The present invention relates to apparatus for transporting folded sheets in bookbinding, newspaper printing and analogous plants. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transporting folded sheets past one or more treating stations.
It is known to transport a series of successive folded sheets on the saddles of one or more endless chain conveyors and to provide such conveyor or conveyors with pushers which positively advance the sheets along a preselected path. The sheets ride on the saddles so that each sheet resembles the inverted letter V. Reference may be had to the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,547 to Hans Muller or to numerous other United States applications and patents of the assignee. Each sheet can constitute one component of or an entire newspaper, periodical, signature, pamphlet or brochure which must be provided with the name and address prior to mailing or shipment to a customer or subscriber. For example, the name and address of the customer or subscriber can be applied by means of a so-called ink jet or it can be applied first to a card or label which is to be pasted, stapled or otherwise affixed to a folded sheet.
A drawback of presently known apparatus for the transport of folded sheets is that all parts of the sheets thereon are not readily accessible for the application of information, cards, labels or the like. This applies especially for the regions of the backs which connect the mutually inclined panels of the sheets to each other.